MADRID.- He real Madrid completed the work started in Lisbon (1-0 victory in the first leg) and with another victory, 2-1 against the Benfica in its Santiago Bernabéu stadium, this Wednesday sealed its ticket to the round of 16 of the Champions League European.
It was with scare included, since the Águilas managed to provisionally equalize the tie by taking the lead in the 14th minute with a goal from Rafael Silvabefore the French Aurélien Tchouaméni (16′) and the Brazilian Vinicius Jr (80′) they turned the score around.
Benfica was the club that sent Real Madrid to this playoff by beating them 4-2 on the last day of the regular phase, a result achieved in a heart-stopping finale and which allowed the Portuguese to also reach this tie, which in practice acts as a round of 32.
Chance had paired both teams after the eighth and final matchday, and in the first leg of this match everything was decided with a goal from Vinicius, who denounced racist insults from the Argentine in this match. Gianluca Prestianniprovisionally suspended for this return clash in the Spanish capital.
“Today is a victory for all those who are against racism,” Tchouaméni even said this Wednesday.
Thanks to this new victory, Real Madrid will be in the draw on Friday, where they will know the identity of their next opponent, who will be Manchester City English or another Lisbon formation, the Sporting.
The victory and classification also manage to put out the outbreak of fire in recent days in the “White House”, after Saturday’s 2-1 defeat against Osasunawhich made him give up the leadership of the Spanish League in favor of his great historical enemy, the FC Barcelona.
Without Mbappé
Another reason for optimism in Real Madrid: this Wednesday’s award came without its great scoring star, the Frenchman Kylian Mbappéwho due to “persistent pain” in a knee in training was declared out for this match.
Mbappé, author of 23 goals in the Spanish League and 13 in the current one Championshas been suffering from an injury to the external ligament of his left knee since the end of 2025 and, as explained by the coach Alvaro Arbeloait was decided that he would stop for a while to recover.
“It won’t be a matter of days,” the Madrid coach advanced, without being able to specify the length of absence.
“I feel very happy for Vinicius, for that great goal he scored today. He deserves it, he is in a great moment of form. Without Mbappé, it is even more important,” the coach estimated.
This “Mbappedependence” of the team worried the Bernabéu crowd and even more so when Benfica took the lead in the 14th minute, after the goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois made a stop on a deflected ball Raul Asencio and the rebound went to Silva, who pushed into the back of the home team’s net.
Benfica thus balanced the tie, but their advantage was short-lived, as Tchouaméni tied it at 1-1 in the 16th minute, assisted by a back pass from the Uruguayan Federico Valverde.
Real Madrid went ahead before the break, in the 32nd minute, with a goal from the Turkish Arda Gülerbut the VAR review ruled that there was offside and annulled it.
Asencio, evacuated on a stretcher
The fight was still very open and Benfica chilled the blood of the local public when in the 38th minute the Colombian Richard Rios He had a clear chance that Courtois saved with a providential hand.
In the second half, the Portuguese continued to cause scares and Silva hit the crossbar in the 59th minute.
The problems were accumulating for the whites, who in the 71st minute saw how a clash between two of their players, Eduardo Camavinga and Asencio, ended with the second receiving a strong blow and having to be replaced and evacuated on a stretcher.
And from shock, to liberation: a through ball from Valverde to Vinicius allowed the Brazilian to send a shot with the inside that became 2-1, sentencing the match, just as in the first leg, and confirming him as the main protagonist of the tie.
